<<Print>>

The Minister of Trades and Industry, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah has chastised Members of Parliament (MPs) for importing Chinese chairs to furnish Ghana�s Parliament and but has also admonished Ghanaians not to emulate such actions. While criticizing the MPs, Dr. Spio-Garbrah blamed the move on Ghanaians because of their perception about locally made products. �So if any of us have bought and are buying foreign furniture instead of Ghanaian made furniture we are equally liable for the concerns that we are raising. Before you move the speck from your brother�s eye you should look at the moth in your own eye�So we can blame Parliament if we want but I�m saying that the fault is in ourselves and not necessarily in Parliament alone,� he said. Ghana�s Parliamentarians have been widely criticized for furnishing the Parliament�s Chamber with imported furniture from China. The action had provoked local furniture manufacturing companies and many people in the country. A Former National Security Adviser, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (rtd) has described the action as unforgivable while urging Ghanains to vote the MPs out of office. Speaking at the Daily Graphic/Fidelity Bank Breakfast Meeting on Wednesday, the Trades Minister explained that �Parliament as a body is a visible institution and because they pass laws and they are public servants they have probably a higher responsibility than many others in the private sector but all of us as citizens really have the same responsibility.� A lecturer at Asheshi University College and Chinese Policy analyst, Professor Lloyd Amoah had said it is a �symbolic mistake,� on the part of MPs because the outlook of Parliament must reflect the values of the country. The Trades Minister however suggested that �moving forward there are many other private sector construction projects. So all the private sector housing projects that we see around, we can insist that the companies even though they are private should give Ghanaian companies not just furniture makers but many other products that go into homes to Ghanaians as possible.�